The Australian Government must maintain strong and effective laws against racial hatred, Aboriginal, ethnic and human rights organisations said today in a joint letter that responds to the inquiry into the racial vilification protections in the Racial Discrimination Act.
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Australia is failing to provide a safe and free environment for civil society and to ensure that people are free to speak out and peacefully protest on issues that they care about, said a UN Human Rights expert today. Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, has been in Australia for a two-week official visit, meeting with government, MPs and civil society organisations.
Read MoreHuman rights lawyers have raised concerns that a parliamentary committee has sought to silence organisations that advocate to protect the environment.
Read MoreAs governments can bestow rights, equally they can take them away. We must not be complacent, writes the HRLC's Emily Howie.
Read MoreThe New South Wales government’s anti-protest laws will unreasonably restrict and disproportionately punish people for standing together and speaking out on issues that they care about, said the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreWhistleblowers who reveal human rights abuses face the risk of prosecution and jail and require much greater legal protection, said the Human Rights Law Centre in a submission to the review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth). The Act is currently being reviewed by former Integrity Commissioner Philip Moss for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Read MoreAustralia’s political parties must stop eroding many of the vital foundations of Australia’s democracy, the Human Rights Law Centre has said in a new report. Civil society leaders joined the launch at Australian Parliament House to highlight the critical role that civil society plays in a healthy and robust democracy.
Read MoreThree UN human rights experts urged the Western Australian parliament not to adopt a proposed law that would criminalise peaceful protests and silence environmentalists and human rights defenders.
Read MoreVictoria’s Charter of Human Rights would be made more effective, practical and accessible through a range of recommendations made in a report following a review of the Charter’s first eight years of operation.
Read MoreLecturer in the Faculty of Law at Monash University, Sangeetha Pillai, examines the problems with the three significant expansions to the current grounds for citizenship loss contained in new laws proposed by the Government.
Read MoreThe full bench of the High Court will hear an important human rights case next week in Canberra about the Northern Territory's excessive police powers.
Read MoreStripping environmental groups of the right to take legal action under Federal environmental laws will undermine core democratic freedoms, a leading human rights organisation has warned.
Read MoreThe Citizenship Bill currently before the Australian Parliament is badly flawed and should not be passed, the Human Rights Law Centre said in its submission to the Parliamentary Committee investigating the Bill. Read More
Australia should demonstrate its international human rights leadership by leading action at the Human Rights Council to address the urgent human right situation in Egypt, human rights organisations said in a joint letter to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Read MoreHuman rights lawyers have raised concerns that a parliamentary inquiry into charity tax law could be used to lay the groundwork for attempts to stifle important voices in the environmental movement.
Read MoreA group of leading Australian and international human rights organisations are calling for an overhaul to the way the Australian government campaigns to end the death penalty, today launching a new strategy document: ‘Australian Government and the Death Penalty: A Way Forward’.
Read MoreThe announcement from Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo that Indonesia will lift its decades-long ban on journalists travelling to its troubled Papuan provinces is a welcome step in the right direction.
Read MoreProposed legislation being debated today in the Western Australian Parliament risks criminalising peaceful protest in breach of international human rights guarantees.
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